Common Signs of Depression
Noticing the early depressions symptoms can help a person to get necessary help and support, including counseling or other medical treatments. People often overlook the early signs and when the symptoms accumulate then the real problems occur and sometimes have reached a later stage. The following signs can be found in a person with depression:
• excessive guilty feeling and often feels that his/ her life is not worthy
• sleeping disorder, including lack of sleep or the opposite, oversleeping habits
• depressed person may find it hard to focus on their routines. Performing simple tasks that become part of a person’s life suddenly turn to be something very hard to do. Depression can also make a person forgetful, lack of interest in pretty much everything and feel constantly lacking of energy
• on-going feeling of restless, anxious, lonely and emptiness
• in some cases, those psychological problems can also be reflected in health problems like having digestion problems, irritated skins or triggering allergy
• in a more serious case, a person may think of ending his/ her life
When Depression Needs Interventions
Interventions are needed as soon as possible in order to make the depression symptoms calm and improve the wellness of a patient. The root of depressions may vary, and to overcome the problems some counseling and therapy sessions are needed. However, if severe depression occurs, the first priority of the treatment is healing the physical condition and saving life. What about the signs of when a depression needs intensive watch? Below are warning signs of potential suicidal behavior that is caused by depression:
• constant thoughts of ending life and death, no interest in life and other stuffs that usually make a person happy. In extreme cases, a person can have or make death wishes and risking actions like wanting to jump into a river, wounding her/ himself, etc.
• worsening problems in eating and sleeping behavior, as a result of lost of interest in life and seeking comfort
• rapid, unstable mood and emotion changes in extreme ways
• continuous expressions of helpless, followed by weird actions of visiting the people he/ she cares about and talking about death, leaving a will and suicide attempts in various ways
Depression has been estimated to affect one child or teen in every thirty three people, and one out of eight adults. If you see your child behaving like the above symptoms, watch him/ her closely. If the signs are getting more intensive or even worsened, talk to your child’s teachers and school counselor for further observation.
